THE HAPPY ISLES
Copyright, 1923 By Harper & Brothers Printed in the U.S.A.
First Edition
K-X
ILLUSTRATIONS
[They'll Say I Stole Him. It'll Be Twenty Years for Me]
[That's a Terr'ble Big Wad for a Boy Like You to Wear]"
[Get Up, I Tell You]
[Mrs. Ansley Took Him as an Affliction]
The Happy Isles
Many a green isle needs must be
In the deep wide sea of misery,
Or the mariner, worn and wan,
Never thus could voyage on,
Day and night, and night and day....
—Shelley.
I
At eight months of age his only experience of life had been one of well-being. He was fed when hungry; he slept when sleepy; he woke when he had slept enough. When bored or annoyed or uneasy he could cry. If crying brought him attentions it was that much to the good; if the effort was thrown away it did no one any harm. Even when least fertile of results it was a change from the crowing and gurgling which were all he had to distract him when left to his own company.